Speed governor for phonographs and other purposes



D. W. ALLIS.

OSES.

SPEED GOVERNOR FOR PHONOGRAPHS AND OTHER PURP 22. Patented Oct. 24

N. 29. I919- RENEWED AUG. 30,19

Patented Get. 24, 1922.

DEXTER W. ALLIS, OF WHITMAN, MASSACHUSETTS.

SPEED GOVERNOR FOR PHONOGRA'PHS AND OTHER PURPOSES.

Application filed January 29, 1919, Serial No. 273,839. Renewed August 30, 1922. Serial No. 585,243. I

To all whom it may coaccwt:

Be it known that I, DEXTER l/V. Annie, a citizen of the United States, residing at hitman, county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented an. Improvement in Speed Governors for Phonographs and Other Purposes, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

The invention to be hereinafter described relates to speed governor devices for phonographs and other purposes.

The usual speed governor for the record rotating spindle of a phonograph coinprises springs revolved by the motor shaft and carrying weights which are thrown out by centrifugal force against the resistance of said springs, and operate a brake to retard the speed of the spindle; and manually adjusted controlling means is provided to vary the retarding effect of the brake.

Governors of this type have been found objectionable forvarious reasons. Among others, they are rather complex, expensive to manufacture and assemble, and the springs, control means and other parts are liable to be. injured and get out of order in transportation and in use.

One of the objects of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a simple, cheap and efficient governor device for phonographs and other purposes. Another object is to eliminate the necessity for the springs which have heretofore been employed. Another object is to provide simple and efficient manually controlled adjusting means to vary the retarding effect of the governor. And still another object is to provide a simple and effective transmission betweenthe motor shaft and the record rotating spindle.

l/Vith the aforesaid and other objects in view, the character of the invention will be best understood by reference to the following description of onevgood forln of the invention shown in-perspective in the drawing. p v

The speed-governor device to be described may be employed for various purposes, but in the present instance ofthe invention, it is illustrated in a mechanismfor driving the record rotating spindle of a phonograph.

The mechanism may be provided with any suitable support, in the present instance, in

the form of a plate 1 which may be conveniently secured by screws to the under side ofthe cover .of the usual box of a phonograph containing the spindle driving mechanism.

, 3 designates an electric motor which may be of usual construction, and have a base 5 secured to the supporting plate 1 by screws 7. The motor is provided with a shaft 9 adapted to rotate a friction wheel 11 engaging a friction disk 13 which may be made of'thin, resilient steel. This disk may be secured by screws 15 to a. collar 17 on a sleeve 19 secured by a set screw 20 to the lower end of a spindle 21. This spindle may be journaled in an elongated sleeve bearing 23 suitably secured to and depending from the supporting plate 1. The upper end 25 of the spindle 21 is adapted to project above the supporting plate up through the cover in position to receive the usual record supporting turn-table of the phonograph.

The construction is such that the resilient disk 13 may be adjusted on the spindle 21 to produce the desired degree of frictional engagement with the motor driven wheel 11. By the construction described, an extremely simple and effective transmission is provided between the motor and the turn-table spindle which eliminates the necessity for the usual worm and worm gear transmission. There isno backlash or lost motion in this new transmission, and as a consequence, noise from the transmission is greatly reduced if not eliminated.

Next will be described the improved governor device embodying the invention. This device, in the present instance, comprises a carrier conveniently in the form of a channel member 27 fast on a. sleeve 29 secured by a screw 31 to the motor shaft 9. Pivotally connected to the channel 27 preferably adjacent the ends thereof, are a pair of arms 33 provided at their free ends with pads or elements 35 of felt, composition, or any-suitable friction material.

(lo-operating with these friction elements is a plate 37 or equivalent member bent to present a foot 39 adapted to rest against the under face of'the supporting plate 1.

Suitable meansmay be provided relatively ,to adjust the carrier 27 and the plate 37.

In the present instance, the plate 37 is adjusted relatively to the carrier. To accomplish this, the plate may be provided with a j lug 41-1. projecting up through on elongated slot 413 in the supporting plate 1 and threaded to a rod journaled in a bearing member f? secured to the supporting plate, and having a hand wheel 49 fast on one end thereof to facilitate manual adjustment of the rod. This rod may be confined against axial movement by shoulders thereon engaging opposite faces of its bearing member. To guide and contribute to the support of the foot 39 of the plate, a screw 51 may be entered through an elongated slot 53 in said foot and be threaded into a tapped hole in the under side of the supporting plate.

In assembling the parts of the governor, the arms 33 are inclined or directed from their pivotal points inward toward the axis of the motor shaft, and the distance between the plate 37 and the carrier 27 is such that the arms cannot move outward on their pivots to positions in which the arms are perpendicular to said plate 37. Thus, the plate serves to limit outward movement ofsaid arms.

In operation, on rotation of the motor, the arms 33 will fly outward under the influence of centrifugal force and cause the friction elements 35 to press against theplate 37,

and since said arms are revolved by the motor shaft, they will wipe against said plate in a circular or orbital path, and the frictional engagement of said elements with the plate will retard rotation of the motor shaft and the turn-table spindle "driven thereby.

When it is desired to vary the speed of the spindle, the hand wheel 49 and the rod 45 may be turned to slide the plate 37 toward or from the carrier 27, and cause the friction elements 35 to wipe along the plate in orbital paths of different radii.

It is obvious that when the friction elements are wiping along the plate in orbital paths of larger radius, they will have a greater length of travel for each rotation of the motor shaft than when said elements are wiping along said plate in an orbital path of smaller radius, and therefore, will. have greater retarding effect. This retarding effect, it should be noted, is'increased not only by increasingthc orbital path over which the friction elements are wiped, but

is very materially increased by the arrangement of the parts whereby, when the plate 37 is adjusted away from the carrier 27, the arms 33 swing outward toward a perpendicular position with res ect to this plate,

and as these arms approac 1 this perpendicularposition, the ends of the same are forced against the plate with a material wedging force which very materially increases the friction between the plate and arms. It will therefore be seen that movement of the plate 37 awayfrom the carrier produces an in creased load upon the motor by increasing 1 ,asaeae the length of the path per revolution of the friction arms,and also by the ends of these arms becoming wedged against the plate 37 as they swing outward.

Therefore, the plate 37 should be adjusted toward the carrier 27 to increase the speed of the spindle, and should be adjusted away from said carrier to decrease the speed of the spindle.

The manually adjusted rod 45 threaded to the lug in the plate 3'? enables the plate to be adjusted with a nicety of control giving any nicety of variation in speed desired, and the threaded connection of the rod with the lug serves to securely maintain the plate in its different positions of adjustment.

By my invention an extremely simple governing device is provided which is cheap in construction, efficient in operation, and not liable to get out of order.

It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiment, shown, and that various deviations may be made therefrom without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

That is claimed is I 1. A speed governor device, comprising, in combination, a rotary shaft, a plate, a carrier on said shaft, and arms pivotally connected to said'carrier and adapted to swing out from said carrier into engagement with said plate under the influence of centrifugal force and wipe against said plate in an orbital path.

2. A speed governor device, comprising, in combination, a rotary shaft, a normally fixed member, a carrier on said shaft, arms pivotally connected to said carrier having friction elements thereon for engagement with said member when under the influence of centrifugal force said arms arranged to have their outward movement limited by said member and to be held thereby so that they at all times project from their pivotal points inward toward the axis of said shaft and means to vary the distance betweenv said carrier and member to .vary the distance of said friction elements from the axis of said shaft.

3. In a phonograph, the combination of a supporting plate, a motor secured to said plate having a shaft, a bearing securedto said plate, a spindle journaled in said bearing, transmission means to drive said spindle from said shaft, and a governor device for said shaft comprising a plate having a foot opposed to said supporting plate, a carrier rotated by said shaft, arms pivoted t0v said carrier and movable outward by centrifugal force to engage and wipe against said plate in an'orbital path, and manually operable means to adjust the foot of said plate along said support relatively to said carrier to vary the radius of said path, and thereby vary retarding efiect on said shaft.

4-. In a phonograph, the combination of the record rotating spindle, a motor having a shaft, transmission means to drive said spindle from said shaft, and a governor de vice for said spindle comprising a normally fixed plate, a carrier rotated by said shaft, an arm pivotally connected to said carrier and having a friction element thereon to swing toward and have wiping engagement with said plate in an orbital path, and manually operable means relatively to adjust said plate and carrier to vary the radius of said path and having provision for maintaining such adjustment.

5. A speed governor device, comprising in combination, a rotary shaft, a carrier on said shaft and rotated thereby, arms pivotally connected to said carrier, and a nonrotatable member having a substantially fiat friction surface positioned opposite the pivotal mounting of said arms, said surface arranged to have the ends of said arms wiped against the same under the influence of centrifugal force, to thereby retard the speed of said shaft.

6. A speed governor device comprising in combination, a rotary shaft, a carrier on said shaft and rotated thereby, arms swingingly connected to said carrier, and a fixed member having a friction surface lying substantially in a plane at right angles to said shaft and positioned to be wiped against by the ends of said arms underthe influence of centrifugal force to thereby retard the speed of said shaft.

7. A speed governor device, comprising, in combination, a rotary shaft, a carrier 011 said shaft and rotated thereby, a non-rotat ing member having a frictional surface extending approximately at right angles to the axis of said shaft, an arm swingingly connected to said carrier and having a friction element for engagement with said surface, said arm beingconstructed and arranged to extend in an inclined direction from its swinging connection with the carrier towards said shaft and to swing outwardly from the shaft under the influence of centrifugal force to press the friction element against said frictional surface, and means relatively to adjust said carrier and member to vary the radius of the orbital path of said friction element.

8. A speed governor device, comprising in combination, a rotary shaft, acarrier on said shaft and rotated thereby, arms pivotally connected to said carrier, a non-rota table member positioned to be frictionally engaged by said arms and adjustable relative thereto, said member movable to an operable position in which a friction surface thereof lies substantially tangent to the are described by the ends of said arms, whereby the ends of said arms are swung by centrifugal force into wedging engagement with said friction surface.

9. A speed governor device, comprising in combination, a rotary shaft, a carrier on said shaft and rotated thereby, arms pivotally connected to said carrier, a nonrotatable substantially flat plate positioned to be frictionally engaged by the ends of said arms, and means for producing relative adjustment between said carrier and plate, said plate arranged to have the ends of said arms wiped against the same under the influence of centrifugal force, to thereby retard the speed of said shaft.

10. A speed governor device, con'iprising,

in combination, a rotary shaft, a friction plate extending transversely to said shaft and presenting a substantial friction surface surrounding said shaft, a carrier rotated by said'shaft, a friction element mounted on said carrier and movable outward from said shaft into pressing engagement with said surface of said friction member under the influence of centrifugal force to retard the rotative speed of said shaft, and means relatively to adjust said friction plate and carrier to vary the radius of the orbit of the friction element about said shaft.

11. A speed governor device, comprising, in combination, a rotary shaft, a friction plate extending transversely to said shaft and presenting a substantially flat friction surface surrounding said shaft, a carrier ro tated by said shaft, and a friction arm swingingly mounted on said carrier and having its outer end positioned to be held in frictional engagement with said surface by. centrifugal force.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

DEXTER W. ALLIS. 

